Malky Mackay was taking on the Dutch as caretaker manager, but the pain and hurt Strachan, 60, felt at losing his job was still too raw.

Strachan said: “I still don’t know what his squad was.

“I refused point-blank to watch it. I was over in America, and someone asked me: ‘Do you want to watch the game’? I was like: ‘No, I don’t’. Someone was going to try and find the channel for it, but I said: ‘No, I don’t want you to find it’.

“I couldn’t bear to watch it. I couldn’t bear to even listen to what the squad was.

“I couldn’t bear to watch anyone in my position doing what I’d being doing for the last five years.

“If that sounds like sour grapes, it’s not. I just missed it that badly. It hurt too much so I decided to just keep away from it.

“Will that feeling go away? Eventually, yes. But for that last game I just couldn’t watch. I know when the next campaign starts I’ll still find it difficult.

“At this moment I find it too hard to look at anything to do with the Scottish national team. I can’t bring myself to look at it.”

“But I would think the biggest reason, and I’ve not spoke to Regan about it, is they felt if they started the next campaign with me and we had a bad result in the first game it would have been a huge problem for us all.

“However I’m only surmising that. I’m not sure.”

Strachan was inundated with phone calls and messages from angry Scotland stars when news first broke he had been axed.

“Players would be the first to moan if they weren’t good at their jobs, but that never happened.” What next for Scotland? That’s yet to be decided with the SFA dithering in their pursuit of top target Michael O’Neill.

Strachan insists one thing is certain. He said: “Let me say this, whoever comes in next will never get any more out of the players than I did.

“The group cannot be more united than it was, not as a group. They will never get that.

“They had passion, had a good shape. They were united and stuck with each other.

“All the time they gave it their best. There may be other things people can point the finger about, but the players couldn’t have given any more. They can’t give any more.

“The next guy might have a tactical change I never saw.

RELATED STORIES

GREAT DANE

Thomas Gravesen slammed a door in Craig Thomson's FACE before Old Firm clash

DOUBLE DELIGHT

Leigh Griffiths wins Scotland's Goal of the Year for England free-kick

“There might be players out there who they think are right for the squad when I did not. It might be there.

“But the players won’t give any less than they give.

“Seriously. I can’t see that. A lot may depend on who wants to carry on playing for Scotland.

“Good lads are good lads. I don’t think they will become bad lads because I’m not there.”

Gordon Strachan in hilarious interview with Maltese journalist

AXED Gordon Strachan freely admits he is unsure what the future holds for him.

The one-time title-winning Celtic gaffer told SunSport: “It could be another management job in football, it could be with my Football Foundation and finding a way for Scottish football to help society.

“I’m talking about how can we make the Scottish kids better and stronger and become stars. I’m also thinking about whether I want to work more in the media because I quite enjoy that side of the game when I do it.

“I also think about coaching again. My problem is I doubt I’ll get to work with a group of players as good as the one I’ve left behind with Scotland.”

GORDON STRACHAN is sure he could have guided Scotland to the next Euros had he not been fired.

He had two failed campaigns in five years but his side were unbeaten in 2017. Asked if maintaining that form would have seen Scotland qualify for the next Euros, Strachan said: “Easy, yeah.

“In saying that, I got the chance to qualify twice and didn’t achieve it. Not many people get two chances. Usually it’s one and they’re out.

“Usually they leave with the tail between their legs, hating football, never wanting back to Scotland because I hate it and they all hate me. It’s not like that for me.

“But they’ve a right good chance if they can keep them all together and find a magical spark from somewhere.”